Zimbabwe: Seeking to Set an Example, Legislators Are Circumcised in Parliament Building

From CDC National Prevention Information Network

June 28, 2012

Hoping to set a good example for other citizens, a number of lawmakers in Zimbabwe underwent circumcision last week in a surgery tent set up in Parliament House. Members of both parties put aside their normal rivalries to have the procedure. The first legislator operated on, Blessing Chebundo, told reporters he had been "a bit scared, but after they had explained the process, I felt at ease." Studies based in Africa have found that circumcision reduces the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission by 60 percent. One day earlier, more than 100 members of Parliament had taken HIV tests. UN figures show that 14 percent of adults in the nation are infected with HIV; in 1997, 27 percent had the virus.

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